Envelop feeding and ejecting mechanism for printing-machines.



No. 758,044. PATENTED APR. 26, 1904.

G. A. BBLKNAP.

ENVELOPTEBDING AND BJEGTING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED r1113. 24. 1902.

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PATENTED APR. 26, 1904.

a. A. BELKNAP. ENVELOP FEEDING AND. EJBGTING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINES.

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APPLICATION IILED FEB. 24. 1902.

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No. 758,044. PATENTED APR. 26, 1904.

G. A. BELKNAP. BNVELOP FEEDING AND EJEGTING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 24. 1902.

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PATENQTBD APR.26,1904.

o. A. BBLKNAP.

BNVELOP FEEDING AND BJEOTING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINES.

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No. 758,044. PATENTED APR. 26, 1904.

I c. A. BELKNAP. ENVELOP FEEDING AND EJEOTING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINES. APPLICATION rum) H2124, 1902.

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1 hereinafter UNITED STATES Patented April 26, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

ENVELOP FEEDING AND EJECTING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 758,044, dated April 26, 1904.

Application filed February 24, 1902. Serial No. 95,328. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. BELKNAP, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of New York, borough of Brooklyn, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Envelop Feeding and Ejecting Mechanism for Printing-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to envelop feeding and ejectingmechanism for printing-machines of the class in which an impression is made through a stencil-card as exemplified by the addressing-machine shown and described in my copending application, Serial No. 87 ,113, filed December 24., 1901.

The objects of the present invention are to provide simple and effective means for separating and feeding one envelop at a time from a stack, means for taking hold of the separated envelop and placing it in position for imprinting, and quick acting simple means for ejecting the printed envelop, especially where the invention is applied to an addressing-machine using stencil-cards.

The general objects are to provide an efficient, simple, and substantial mechanism adapted to cooperate at properly-timed intervals with the printing mechanism for feeding the envelops for printing and for ejecting or removing them after printing.

My invention consists of certain features of construction and combinations of parts to be described in detail and then claimed.

In the accompanying five sheets of drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a printing-machine in which stencil-cards are used and to which is applied the envelop feeding and ejecting mechanism herein described. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same parts as seen when viewed from the opposite side. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan, parts of the printingmechanism removed, showing more clearly the parts of the latter which cooperate with the envelop feeding and ejecting mechanism. Fig. 4 is a plan of the envelop feeding and ejecting mechanism. Fig. 5 is a detail of the ejector or knocker. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing more clearly the cooperation of the printing and feeding mechanism, the feed being interrupted and the printing taking place. Fig. 7 is a similar section, the printing being interrupted and the feeding taking place. Fig. 8 is adetail of the envelop-pusher, showing how it engages an envelop; and Fig. 9 is a detail of the top envelop-guide.

Referring to the drawings, A indicates the frame of the printing-machine or addressingmachine, B the pivoted or movable stencilcarrier, and C the stencil -cards of suitable construction. The frame is provided with a suitable impression bed or table A. (Jams are employed to drive the parts of the printing-machine from the drive-shaft D. These cams are indicated in dotted lines. Arm B of the stencil-carrier B is oscillated from its appropriate cam, so as to oscillate the stencilearrier, which is provided with a bottom plate I), in which a pusher or pushers E are guided for feeding the stencil-cards, such as O,along the side guideways. Pushers E are connected by a link F with a lever F, which is oscillated from its appropriate cam in such a Way that when the stencil-carrier moves downwardly the pusher moves forward to feed a stencil-card from a hopper or supply box, while when the stencil-carrier moves upwardly the pusher moves back.

A supply box or hopper His mounted preferably on brackets G, the same also supporting a collecting box or hopper H. Hopper H is located above the ingoing end of the stencil-carrier and hopper H at the outgoing end, so that the cards O in supply hopper H may be fed along the stencil-carrier and after they have been used for printing delivered to the collecting-hopper H.

Of the inking and impression rolls 1 I inking-roll I has its shaft journaled in the ends of links 41 which are pivoted to the lever 2', operated from its appropriate cam, while the shaft of impression-roll I is journaled in extensionlinks 2" of links 2. These rolls are guidedin the stencil-carrier in such way that when they are moved to the front end of the stencil carrier the impression roll I lowers to make an imprint through the underlying stencil-card upon the envelop which may be in place upon the platen or impression bed A. The inking-roll (see Fig. 1) is rotated by itspinion J meshing with a fixed rack J,

and the impressionroll is rotated from the iBnking-foll by intermeshing gears k is. (See The inking mechanism comprises also an ink fountain'or reservoir P, (indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3,) which reservoir is toothed and is intermittently turned by a pawl Q, which is spring-retracted and is caused to take against the teeth by means of a tappet q on the lever i which strikes the slide Q, that supports the said pawl. The ink exudes from the ink fountain or reservoir onto the padded lower surface of the same; but this feature and other features of the reservoir are not described, as they do not belong to the present invention, for as far as that is concerned inking-r0111, which takes ink therefrom, may be inked in any other desirable and practical manner.

The stencil-cards are fed along the stencilcarrier toward the envelop-feeding mechanism, and after printing of the envelops the card used is delivered to the collecting hopper or box H by the upward movement of the stencilcarrier, which forces the card against the catches m, causing them to automatically open and gather up the card.

Only so much of the printing-machine has been described as will enable a clear understanding of the connection of its main parts with "the envelop feeding and ejecting mechanism now to be described.

A supporting-plate R is suitably supported in the form of a leaf or shelf that extends out from the'front end of the printing-ma chine and is provided with an envelop-holder, preferably formed by up'wardlyprojecting rods R, located in slots 9" and secured from the under side of the plate R by means of thumb-nuts R which may be used to adjust the size of the holder for various sizes of envelops stacked therein with the flaps downward and located on the side adjacent the printing mechanism. A cross-piece R supported by fixed rods R at such distance above the plate R as to form an opening 1", is provided with a vertical guideway for an intermediate guide-piece R (shown in Fig. 9 in detail) and adjusted up or down for various thicknesses of envelops fed forward by the enveloppushers. These latter preferably consist of a pair of yielding rearwardly-inclined fingers S, which at their upper ends protrude sufficiently through slots r inv the plate R as that they may engage under and at both ends of the flap of the lower envelop-say Zof the with an eccentric-strap S received by an eccentric S, preferably mounted on the driveshaft D of the printing-machine. By properly positioning the eccentric S the movements of the feeding-fingers S are so timed as that the inward pushing motion of the said fingers takes place when the stencil-carrier rises to discharge the used stencil-card. The effective clearance of the feeding-fingers S through the opening 7" and the separation of the lower envelop only from the stack are produced by the holding down of the middle portion of the envelop by the guide-piece R which also enables the ends of the envelops to rise without allowing the fingers to abut against any obstacle, which might be the case if there were no guide-piece and the opening 1" were narrower.

Located between the envelop-holder and the platen of the impression-bed (which may be arranged on the plate R) is a pair'of feed-rolls T T, that are clothed with yielding or elastic material. and are respectively journaled in brackets t t, projecting from opposite sides of the plate R, that has an opening o to receive the upper portion of roll T, so that it may cooperate with roll T to feed forward onto the platen or impression-bed the envelop delivered to it by the feeding-fingers S. Gears 6 t are arranged on the shafts of rolls T T and mesh to cause the rolls to revolve oppositely,

to which end the gear 6 is meshed by a driving-gear t fixed on a shaft 6', journaled in bearings 25?, and carrying also a sprocket-wheel U,.over'which runs an endless sprocket-chain U, that also runs over a large drive sprocketwheel U that is fixed preferably on the camshaft D of the printing-machine. As shown, the feed-rolls rotate constantly, and when the feeding-fingers S separate and push the lower envelop Z out between the rolls the rolls grip the envelop, feed it toward, and deliver it onto the platen or impression-bed A at a time when the stenciLcarrier is raised. Thus-the envelops are fed oppositely to the stencil-cards, both being fed to a common point overthe platen or impression-bed. A suitable stop limits the pression-bed A and preferably formed by bending it up at right angles to a spring-plate V, the shape of which can be more clearly seen from Fig. 4 and which is adjustable by' means of its clamping-screw V which enters plate R. Additional support for the springplate V isv afforded by extending it over the shaft of the lower feed-roll. The adj ustability of the spring-plate and stop provides for defining the extent of inward movement of various widths of envelops. After the impression has been. printed on the envelop by the inked impression-r0111 and when the stencil-carrier is rising to discharge the used stencil-card a knocker strikes one end of the printed envelop and ejects it from the side of printing-machine into a suitable receptacle, as shown in Fig. 4, or into the hands of the attendant at the ma chine. Theknocker consists, preferably; of a shank WV, provided with a foot N, guided on the plate R and located beyond one end of the platen or impression-bed A. A set-screw VV passes through a slot in shank W and into the end portion of a spring-actuated arm W pivoted to the plate R. An actuatingspring V is adapted to quickly throw the knocker and arm froin the dotted to the full line position of Fig. 4, so that the knocker will forcibly eject the printed envelop. The

spring WV is placed under tension due to the action of an end cam X on a projection W of the arm W Said cam X is mounted at the side of the feeding mechanism on a shaft X, preferably journaled in suitable bearings of the frame A and rotated by a sprocketchain X", which runs over a sprocket-wheel X on cam-shaft D and another sprocketwheel X on the shaft X. The incline y on the cam boars upon the projection WV and gradually places the spring l/V under tension, and then when the projection passes the high point of the incline the spring suddenly acts on the arm WV and throws the knocker against the printed envelop. The development of the cam-surface is such that at the proper moment, after the stencil-carrier has raised sufficiently, the spring force is released.

As far as the broad idea is concerned it is evident that there is originality in feeding stencil-cards and articles, such as envelops or sheets, on which an impression is to be made through the stencil-cards to a common point and then discharging the articles printed sidewise of the line of feed.

It will be apparent to skilled mechanics that various alterations can be made in the details without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

hat I claim as new and of my invention is 1. The combination of a platen or impression-bed, means for feeding stencil-cards thereto, means for feeding the articles to receive the imprint, to the platen, said feeding means being arranged at opposite sides of the platen and feeding toward the platen as a common point, means for impressing the stencil onto the articles, and means for moving the used stencil-cards directly away from the platen, transversely to the direction of the feed of the cards and the articles, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a platen or impression bed, means for feeding stencil cards thereto, means for feeding the articles to receive the imprint to the platen or impressionbed, means for impressing the stencil onto the articles, 'means for removing the stencil-cards from the printed articles, and means for removing the printed articles sidewise of the line of feed of the card-feeding means, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a platen or impression-bed, means for feeding stencil-cards thereto, means for separating and feeding from a stack the articles to receive the imprint to the platen or impression-bed, means for impressing the stencil onto the articles, and means for knocking the printed articles to one side of the line of the card-feeding means, substantially as described.

4. The combination, in an envelop-feeding mechanism, of means for separating and feeding envelops from a stack, feed-rolls for taking up the fed envelop, a platen onto which the envelop is fed, and means located near one end of the feed-rolls for ejecting the envelop laterally from the platen, substantially as described.

5. The combination of means for feeding envelops to a platen or, impression bed, a spring-actuated pivoted arm, a knocker located on and at angle to one end of the arm to one side of the line of feed, and means for straining the spring and to release the arm and knocker, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination, with a platen or impression-bed, and a stencil-card carrier, one of said parts being movable relatively to the other, of a spring-stop for the article to be printed acting when the movable part is moved away from the other to intercept the article and the movable part automatically retracting the stop when the cards are being fed, substantially as described.

7. The combination of a platen or impression-bed, timed means for feeding stencil-cards thereto, means for producing the impression through the stencil-cards, means for feeding the articles to be printed, to the platen, a suitably-driven cam timed relatively to the cardfeeding means and the article-feeding means, and a knocker suitably actuated from said cam to dischargethe printed article sidewise relatively to the line of feed, substantially as de scribed.

Signed at New York, N. Y., this 19th day of February, 1902.

CHARLES A. BELKNAP.

Witnesses:

GEO. L. VVHEnLooK, EDWARD J. MURPHY. 

